Class 14 - Living the Gospel - Luke 20-24

In this class, we finish St. Luke's Gospel, covering chapters 20 through 24.

Some of the passages and topics we cover include:
-Not responding to scoffers
-The parable of the vinedressers
-Judgment is coming
-Paying taxes and obeying civil authorities
-Prayers to the saints
-The widow's two mites and our small offerings we make to God
-The fall of Jerusalem and the End Times
-Prayer and inward watching (readying ourselves for death & judgment)
-The word "Pascha" in scripture
-Satan enters Judas because he was not watching himself
-If one of the 12 can fall, so can we
-The symbolism of Peter & John preparing the Paschal/Passover meal
-The symbolism of the Upper Room
-The Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist
-Submitting our human will to the divine will (Garden of Gethsemane)
-Repent like Peter, not like Judas
-The Prince of Peace unites even those persecuting Him
-The weakness of government and why we shouldn't place our hope in politics (hint: the mob eventually wins)
-The King of the world in His glory on the Cross
-The darkness of it overcoming creation
-The Noble Joseph of Arimathea
-The hope we have in Pascha, and how it has changed the world
-On the road to Emmaus
-Only Christ can open our eyes to the Scriptures' true meaning
-A real bodily resurrection (sorry, Origen)
-Preaching "repentance and remission of sins"

In this series, we focus on how we should live our lives according to the commandments of Christ found in the Gospels. While theology is important, we can't truly understand it until our hearts are purified. This purification comes by grace and praxis, that is, living the Christian life. With that in mind, we sometimes breeze over portions of chapters that are less about how to live and more about teaching theology. Praxis first; theology later.